事項與發展

Distinguished Guests and Speakers,

First of all, I would like to welcome all of you most cordially on behalf of the Department of Health. I am deeply honoured to have more than 200 distinguished guests and experts from different disciplines and professions all over the world, from East to West and North to South, to share valuable experiences and expertise on the management of tobacco dependence. You will appreciate what I mean when you meet experts coming from far edges of the world, if the world is really flat. We have distinguished guests coming from the East as far as China and the west from the United States of America. We also have experts from Finland near the Arctic Circle and friends from Australia on the southern end.

Tobacco deserves public health priority because it is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. Tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy workforce. Smoking cessation is one effective intervention that can decrease smoking-related morbidity and mortality.

In our government clinics, a combination of counselling and pharmacotherapy is adopted to treat nicotine dependence of smokers. The 7-day-point prevalence rate of abstinence remained steady at about 45% and 39% at 26-week and 52-week respectively. To further enhance the accessibility and convenience of smoking cessation services in Hong Kong, the Government is collaborating with the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to operate a community-based smoking cessation programme. This new programme will cover four major areas including clinical smoking cessation services, training of healthcare personnel, clinical research as well as publicity and education on smoking cessation. In this connection, I must thank the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals for their dedication and commitment in this formidable task.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you again for your unfailing support to building a smoke-free community. Our partnership and commitment in the combat of tobacco epidemic will certainly help to minimise the life and economic loss from every edge of the world. Thank you.

Dr PY LAM, JP
Director of Health